Biocatalysis for Material Science and Drug Discoveries
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Biocatalysis for Material Science and Drug Discoveries Ferdinando Francesco Bruno1, Lynne A Samuelson1, Subhalakshmi Nagarajan2, Ramaswamy Nagarajan3, and Jayant Kumar4 1 Nanomaterial Science, US Army, Kansas St, Natick, MA, 01760 2 Chemistry Department, UMASS Lowell, One University Ave, Lowell, MA, 01854 3 Plastic Engineering, UMASS Lowell, One University Ave, Lowell, MA, 01854 4 Physics Department, UMASS Lowell, One University Ave, Lowell, MA, 01854 ABSTRACT A novel biomimetic route for the synthesis of ionic conducting homopolymers from phenol like components, in the presence of a polyelectrolyte, such as sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS) is presented. The enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used to catalyze the polymerization of different monomers. Catechins, the active compounds found in green tea, have been extensively studied in the last decade. The health benefits associated with the intake of these flavanols have been studied both in-vitro and in-vivo. However the wide-scale use of some of these catechins have been rather limited, owing to their poor aqueous solubility and stability. Here we report a unique enzymatic approach for the synthesis of water-soluble poly(catechins) with enhanced stability and potent anti-proliferative effects on human cancer cells in vitro. Various stereoisomers of catechin [(+), (-), (±)] and (-)-epicatechin have been biocatalytically polymerized using HRP in ethanol/buffer mixtures. Furthermore, the presence of a polyelectrolyte, such as SPS, in this complex provides a unique combination of properties such as processability and water-solubility. This one-pot biocatalytic polymerization is carried out in ambient conditions yielding watersoluble poly(catechins). These synthesized poly(catechins) were tested for their growth inhibitory properties using a variety of cancerous human cell lines. The poly(catechins) exhibit significant greater growth inhibitory effects when compared to the monomers and exhibited inhibition in the growth of breast, colorectal and esophageal cancer cells . INTRODUCTION Natural products such as green tea have attracted considerable consideration in the last 15 years because of its anti-oxidant properties and distinct anti-cancer activity [1]. There is an increasing amount of evidence which proves the chemoprotective and chemopreventive properties of green tea. Catechins are the most important constituents of green tea. The green tea is rich in phenolic antioxidants, which are believed to be the cause of the chemo-protective nature of the tea extracts. The major flanols constituents found in green tea are (-)-epicatechin, (+)-catechin, (-)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin gallate, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and (-)epigallocatechin. Commercially prepared green tea extracts are standardized to contain 50–60% polyphenols. Current studies have revealed that the naturally occurring polyphenolic catechins inhibit some forms of breast cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth and prevent recurrence of some forms of breast cancer in women [2
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